A Breakthrough! Pyjama Challenge

I know it sounds strange, but I have been going through the strangest block I have ever experienced.  I think it is related to a few different issues.  The first being a huge and difficult change in my job.  In addition I can't remember who it was, but I recently read about a blogger who said that putting her projects in a blog for others to see created a pressure that made it difficult to sew the way she used to.   I find that to be a strange phenomenon.  One of my first posts was a real wadder.   On top of that, I began to notice that I am really unhappy with the weight I've gained.  Add a change in my job that resulted in double the work and increased time.  Sewing began to make me anxious until I couldn't even think about it except to vicariously live through the blogs of others.
     Now that you have provided me with a free therapy session, I am happy to say that Karen at Did You Make That? has helped me to create my first piece of apparel for me since the block began in September -- Pyjamas.  Silly as it sounds, I was in tears when I finished cutting them out.  I caught up with the challenge yesterday and will follow her instructions for today as soon as I am done with this post.
     Appropriately, I was making this new pair of jammies while wearing a pair that I could improve upon.

  What a terrible picture!I had to have Dan take it for me, but he is a very inexperienced photographer having never taken it upon himself to take a picture unless forced to.  The legs are seamed and will soon be attached.  The next pictures are just as bad.

Thank You Karen!

Can't Wait!

     Found my camera in my secret hiding place.  I kept it a secret from myself.  Luckily, my husband saw me put it in a compartment in my car under some cds.  Unfortunately, I didn't mention the missing camera to him until I had spent several hours looking for it.
     I added to my stress yesterday by sneaking in a little me time.  I ran over to Jo Ann's for what I thought would be a quick trip to pick up my niece's birthday present and some "Pyjama" fabric.  Two and a half hours later, I came home with satisfaction and frustration. 
     I am extremely satisfied that I got everything a twelve year old girl needs to begin sewing independently.  I bought her a pair of Gingher dressmaker shears, a marking pen, tracing wheel, pins, a tomato cushion (everyone has to have at least one,) a rubber thimble, and an adorable sewing box that came with a few goodies.  The fushia, leopard print, sewing box matched all of the fushia notions and came with a measuring tape, needle threader, pearl head pins, and threaded needles.
    The frustration came with this great Lisette lawn fabric I bought for Karen's "Pyjama Challenge."    I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures.

 I don't know how I am going to wait until this weekend to get started!  It was hard to find something I could imagine myself loving and being jammie-comfy in.  I had lawn in mind but didn't think I would find it at JoAnn.  The pattern she recommended was no longer in the Simplicity pattern book, so I chose McCalls 6249.

I am planning to make the capris and bought enough for the top.  The ruffle on bottom is a bit young looking for me.  The fabric is fun enough.  I don't think I need the ruffle. The lawn will be perfect for the summer nights at my parent's house on the lake.  I often have trouble sleeping in the heat.  The button selection at JoAnn's has been seriously depleted (like all the other sewing offerings.)  I decided that these simple, flat, green buttons would be good for a wild sleeper like me.  Have you ever rolled over on a shank button? Ow!

Spring Palette

Haven't decided yet what I am going to do with this inspiration board, but I was excited by Sarai's post on Coletterie.  I am not committing to the challenge -- just playing around with ideas.  I followed the directions on Coletterie and put together this pallette on Polyvore.

Baby Steps

I am working out this slump by taking baby steps.  I began by making all the ladies in the family scarves for Easter.  Unfortunately, I have lost my camera!  With any luck, I will find it when I get back to my classroom.  What is a post without pictures? 
Well, since the urge to walk into the sewing room is coming back, I took another step today and made new beanbags for my class.  We will soon be doing "The Beanie Bag Dance."  A little advice for anyone making beanbags: use brown rice.  I have used beans, but the bags are a bit too hard and lumpy.  White rice will give the fabric a white powder residue.  Brown rice creates a soft bag without the residue.
I am thinking of taking a bigger step by trying my first sew-along.  Karen over at Did You Make That? is hosting the Pyjama Party Sewalong--just my speed.  I have the fabric, the pattern, and the desire again.  I just have to find the camera! 

Have You Ever Experienced a Funk?

Thanks to Sarai over at Coletterie, I realized that I am in a funk.  I couldn't figure out why I was so unproductive lately during the rare event I found time to sew.  I have been blaming it on the stress of my new job, but I think this might be something all together different.  A rut!  How do I get out of it?  Inspiration?  Set some goals?  Work through it?  Even my new machine has not helped. 
Have you ever experienced anything like this?  What did you do to get out of it?

Be Careful When You Scoff!

My husband has made fun of Snuggies one too many times.  My daughter decided he couldn't possibly hate something he spent so much time talking about, so she made him a snugglet.

At first, he couldn't figure out what it was.

Then he got it!  He still can't believe she would give him this crazy novelty he despised with such fervor.

 Then, he began to appreciate the genius in it.  We don't know yet if he will ever use it as it was intended, but he thought it made a great monk costume.

The Star Wars fans out there might recognize Senator Palpatine.

Merry Christmas!  I hope you all had as much fun with your gifts as we did.

When time is short, shouldn't everything go smoothly?

I finally found some time to sew this weekend after working almost 60 hours during the week.  I know that sounds unbelievably ridiculous for a teacher, but my job is not an average teaching job this year.  Unfortunately, my new Babylock is catching on something and won't stop jamming.  I know it could be me, but I have been threading it for some time now and following the directions carefully.  Argh!  I am fighting the Charlie Brown attitude that if something can go wrong it will. 
I went to church this morning hoping to hear something that would help, and the sermon was about how life can throw you wild cards changing your plans completely.  I have an Uno card in my purse to remind me to accept the wild card because you never know what can happen. 
With any luck my trek out to the store from which I purchased the machine at the American Expo will have  a wonderful treasure. 
Hope your weekend was better than mine!